Is the Sony SB "business-class" quality?

I'm looking for a business class laptop and I've narrowed it down to a Thinkpad
T420 or a Sony Vaio SB. They have pretty much the same specs for the price (in the way I want it), the only thing that differs and matters to me is the build quality and appearance.

The Sony SB looks much better and is smaller and lighter, while the T420 is like a tank. So I was wondering, would you consider the Sony SB to be of business-class build quality? I'm really attracted by the looks of it, compared to the thinkpad. However I'm afraid after 2 years it's going to break and Sony will screw me over in support.

 

not sure if it matters to you but hinge is wabbly on the SB and not very tight

 

the SB and all Sonys are Consumer laptops ... the Z would be the closest to business class, and IMO thats pretty debatable.

Look at the Elitebooks as well, 4 year NBD warranty is fun should you ever need it.

http://shopping1.hp.com/is-bin/INTE...yID=uM8Q7EN6MCYAAAEuJKE4ORFL&JumpTo=OfferList

Look for coupon codes or call a rep for 20-25% off the pricing too normally

 

I just purchased a Vaio SA and it's safely business-class quality (not sure about SB). I have experience with numerous Lenovo and HP notebooks and feel that the quality of this unit is on par with those (and in some cases better).

 

consumer lines or business class laptops? My SA and Z felt pretty meger on the quality comapred to most of the Bus class units from HP/Dell/Lenovo ive had over the years.

 

Business class lines. My SA feels better built and more solid then my last two "T" series and I have seen numerous quality issues on HP Elitebooks (the latest edition seems better though).

 

None of the Sonys are business class.
For one thing, Sony has a way too short release cycle for businesses (who might want to buy more of the same model a year later, or a docking station two years down the road).
And proprietary solutions preventing IT from duping standard installation drives they can quickly insert into a new computer and get the user up and running in minutes instead of days.
And in the US, at least, you can't get them without a camera, which is a showstopper for some businesses.
Then there's the warranty, which according to several posts here aren't what businesses mean by warranty. If a machine breaks, they want a new part fitted, not a monetary refund because the manufacturer no longer has spare parts for that model.
Then there's a lack of workstation graphics. Only consumer graphics cards, even for the top models.
How about docking stations with serial or other legacy ports? Nope, not Sony.

A couple of the Sony models are "prosumer", and the rest are firmly in the consumer or fashion consumer categories. Only small companies that don't care, or those with clout enough to bully IT into buying whatever they say will get a Sony for business use.

 

I think that the OP is more interested in the actual build quality of the laptops.

The SB series is meant to be made out of aluminum for the palmrests and the lid and base is made out of the magnesium-obviously there is no roll cage technology going on here. The SA is possibly carbon fibre reinforced plastics for the lid and AL/magnesium. I know the OP never mentioned the SA but it may be an alternative.

This is what notebookcheck reported about the SB chassis

Notebookjournal.de

It's obviously not a Toughbook. There appear to be some issues with the hinges. Apart from that the build appears to be overall good. Business grade level? I would most likely say it is at prosumer level currently.

 

The SB isn't exactly a tank but it's a good troop transport if you want to make an analogy that way. It's only in extreme conditions (i.e. someone trying to smash your computer with a baseball bat) where the build quality of the SB might be an issue. I'd actually prefer the SB's build quality over the VPC-Z1.

 

I'll answer from my point of view regarding my SA. (I don't think the SA and SB are much different relative to your question). I am in my second week of carrying my personal SA instead of my company-supplied HP Elitebook on the road. It's a trial - I like the smaller, lighter form factor and SSD speed, but am wondering about long-term durability.

For me, yes, the SA is business class - primarily because I support myself technically and, although I travel all the time, I take very good care of all the stuff I carry. (And I have a like-minded colleague who has carried a Z for a year or so and it still looks new.)

But - for the average business user (esp. traveler), I'd say no due to the thin lid and loose hinges.

The above is relative to durability.

Regarding product life, no - Sony changes products too often.

Regarding accessories like docks and batteries - yes.

 

Just because an IT department can deploy some cheap tank-like HP laptop on a massive scale doesn't make it 'business class'. At our corp, the worker bees like me are given poorly performing HP bricks to use with the office docks (no doubt fully supported with lengthy warranties). However, the execs are permitted to use their own machines, which are almost exclusively Vaios and Macbooks.

Business class = thin, light, durable, long battery life, stylish and expensive. Hence why I have my Vaio X for out-of-office business use.

 

Business class does not mean only for large corps...there are many small and medium sized corps out there and their needs can be met by a "SA" or "Z".

 

Many large corporations buy alot of laptops at once with all the same specs to lighten the load on the IT department. With Sony and any other consumer grade computer, you are going to have different parts/drivers/model every year and that puts strains on budget/IT department. And that is the reason why Sony will never be deployed as a main workhorse computer, as mentioned maybe executives which for the most part do have business grade notebooks.

 

Sony does NOT offer the support and warranty of true busines class unit. with Sony you call them, explain issues to a first level idiot, get moved to a second level idiot and usually have to send it to Sony or a depot for repair for a few weeks.

with a true business class unit you have a few different options.
but at the very basic you can have 2 or 3 years of talking to someone who can get somethign done in hours or a couple days such as send a new hard drive, DVD, or RAM to you overnight courrier.

At a higher level you can have 4 or 5 years of next business day support where a tech is at your house, school, or work usually within 24 hours maximum ( in my experience with the HP Elitebooks usually that day or mid next morning ) and if its a major issue they put your drive and options in a new unit and leave, no questions asked. accidental protection is also there as well ... and the cost is minimal ( $100 - $350/unit )

you also find options in them you can not on a consumer laptop such as proper docking ports on them ( not the moronic USB attachments ) top notch IPS screens in some as well as much improved cooling and professional GPU's for those of us that cant stand a gforce or radeon to do large graphics renders on or driver crashes

and yes im aware AW's on site support is hit and miss but that is NOT their business support crew but subcontractor lackies.

trust me in business, downtime is BIG money and big headaches, in my business a graphics station down = up to $700/day.
if you need maximum uptime for business or school I tend to say your much better off walking past Sony, Apple and Samsung for the cute prosumer machines and run past the consumer garbage from HP, Dell, Toshiba and Gateway if you can

 

If Sony and Apple laptops are prosumer, how come you see business leaders and corporate elites using Vaio or Macbook products all the time? There must be something about them that serious businessmen find attractive for business purposes. Maybe the qualities I listed above?

I'd imagine people who work in IT departments have a very different idea of what a business class laptop is. When a CXO is ordering a laptop something tells me he's not that concerned about the on-site support or replacement part prices.

Nor are business people concerned with:

Do you really think business users are rendering movies? They're in Outlook, Excel and Powerpoint, not Adobe Aftereffects.

Anyway, I wouldn't class the SB as a business class machine. The Z is though, especially the Z2.

 

Apple an Sony are very well marketed and are much more stylish. and im sorry the vital machines in a business tend to NOT be the CEO/CFO etc laptops but the grunts under them and the main machines at the office. if your CEO is doing alot of e-mail and has a good backup it does not matter if his/her prosumer unit tanks. get a new one or a loaner and move e-mails back. in your vital machines you cant do such a thing as easily in many cases. one point I forgot to mention is depending on your business a hardware encription module is NOT optional for the protection of personal/ business data. again not somethign you find in consumer/prosumer models in almost all cases ( a few thinkpads are the exception ). in govt and medical fields this is strictly enforced, and is becoming more and more of an issue all the time.

I may be a bit biased as im in the graphics/design industry where the moniker Pretty, Polished and Pointless comes into play much too often.

depends on the CxO ... I know 11 including 2 of ours who pack panasonic toughbooks .... theyre all different

 

You see corporate using Vaio/Apple computers because they don't know any better. Their jobs is to see the growth of the business and they obviously don't know much about computers. There's once a wise man said, follow what your IT guy says. And as I fix computers for a living, I only buy business oriented notebooks for business/normal usage. When I want to game I have a dedicated laptop/desktop.

People use consumer grade computers for business are condemning themselves to headaches down the road. Business oriented notebooks are better built, use higher quality components, and have superior support compared to consumer laptops. That and business laptops get docking stations (no not the crummy USB ones), and most have a target of 4-5 years of using the same components so it reduces the cost overall. Also business laptops very rarely have a huge chassis/parts update. For example I'll use Dell's premier 14" workhorse the Latitude, the D600/D610 use similar components, only difference was RAM really. D620/D630 share mostly same components. E6400/E6410 again same thing, and with the latest E6420/ and the coming E6430, they will keep the chassis design to very minimal differences.

Consumer laptops have a problem getting parts after say 5 years down the road. That is the reason why Dell, HP and Lenovo are the big 3 of business. They all carry parts for ridiculously old computers and have them readily available. Apple discontinues support for 7+ year old products (you are hard pressed finding like new iBook stuff). Their support truly is top notch via consumer, but certain repairs require RMA to California are very quick, I do not bad mouth their service. But the fact Apple repair costs are very high as they solder on the CPU is a no-no for the business world. That and I personally dislike unibody, it is nowhere near the strength of a buisness laptop, no roll cage, and easily takes dents/scratches. I don't even want to fathom a Sony chassis, probably even worse for being ultra expensive.

 

There are many business laptops that have soldered cpu's and it's been this way for a long time. All the current SB ULV and LV processors are soldered. Even the E4300 had a soldered cpu.
The definition of what a business notebook has been slowly changing for some time but still you will find your mainstays out there.
Take a look at the likes of the Dell Z600, some people in business demand something a little different. Those in graphic design say may have different needs than someone in a different line of business. They may need to use Mac OSX or demand a high quality display. It also depends on how you use your notebook, some people may demand a more rugged notebook for being out in the field and some people may only be more office based.
My Sony SZ is still going strong after 3 years and it's not the most rugged notebook but it is ok for my needs and with adequate protection when travelling it is fine. The same can be said for my Sony TT.

Sony's prosumer lines are decently built notebooks.

 

False logic. None of the Sony or Apple laptops are at the level of a business or semi/rugged laptop. Why do they buy these laptops? Because they're expensive and flashy. Anyone who travels a lot and requires a well built machine that I have met use Lenovo, HP (Elitebook), or Dell (Latitude/Precision).

 

Hello Rachel this I can directly speak for, as I am in graphics design. OSX is no longer a prerequisite and many are moving AWAY from it ( Apature ) is the only pro grade software linked only to OSX

but we DO need higher quality displays where HP and Dell have been catering to us as well as giving us the all vital proper docking units for our external screens and tie-ins to our storage arrays without the need of unhooking and rehooking many cables all day long.

I have no doubt they are a decent built machine but I used to have a Z1 and a crappy EH eries, and for a short time an SA2GGX. and the SA was a nice little machine ( ran WAY too hot for me though ) but I would call it a 1-2 year machine in a business environment where equipment is not always taken care of as well. and in Canada the support is horrid .... 2 weeks to change a motherboard is unacceptable in that kind of envirnment. the T/X/M/Probooks/Elitebooks we are very suprise when a machine does not take 4 years .... as much as the Sonys looked nice I would be suprised if they would be called a 3 year machine. heck we make fun of MBP's as being 18 monthers and thats in graphics design where we used to be hardcore Apple people.

 

The Thinkpads have rollcage technology BECAUSE they have plastic exteriors. The metal on these removes that neccesity from the equation. I've had two thinkpads and two vaios. I can safely say that a thinkpad doesnt last any longer and cant take greater abuse. Both vaios (my prior SR and the SB are magnesium) and my prior thinkpads both older R series(both had rollcage tech) lasted 3 years before i replaced them, but non of them were non-functional. Both vaios have been tossed in bags with heavy law books, thrown around in travel, and taken from place to place for days, and stood up to it without fail.

Hope this helps!